Tablet



J. SCHEITLER.

TABLET, DIRECTORY, AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-22. 191B.

1 26,694. Patented Dec. 30,1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH SCHEITLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN S. HEATH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TABLET, DIRECTORY, ANDTHE LIKE.

Application filed August 22, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrn SCHEITLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tablets, Directories, and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is more particularly designed for use in connection With tablets, such as those of a memorial character, directories, and the like of a relatively permanent nature, and therefore constructed of a metal such as bronze of an ornamental appearance and lasting quality. In such devices, which are employed to record the names of individuals and in some instances data concerning them, it is desirable that provision be made for assembling names and data and adding to and removing from the tablets or interchanging same. It is the purpose of my invention to provide a suitable construction to facilitate these operations which will permit of the employment of an ornamental permanent metal therefor and will not detract from the appearance of the tablet or directory as it would be were it entirely permanent and integral. While the invention has in view more particularly tablets and directories of metal of the character referred to above, it is not limited thereto but may be employed in devices of the same character where other and less permanent material is employed. In the drawing annexed to a former part of the application I have illustrated and in the following specification described a preferred form of my invention. It is to be understood, however, that the specific disclosure is for the purpose of exemplification only and that the scope of the invention is defined in the following claims in which I have endeavored to distinguish it from the prior art so far as known to me without, however, relinquishing or abandoning any portion or feature thereof.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a face view of a portion of a tablet or directory embodying my invention, parts being broken away to better show the construction; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same on a line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a perspective of a detail, parts being broken away; and Fig. 4 a perspective of an element of the invention.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 30, 1919.

Serial No. 250.960.

As above observed, the entire tablet 'or directory may be formed of bronze or other permanent and ornamental metal or other material of a sufficiently permanent naturefor the object for which the directory or tablet is designed. The construction comprises a backing 5 of such suitable material which is provided upon its face with retaining devices for holding stripsfi of suitable metal or other material upon which names or other data may be engraved, embossed or otherwise recorded. The strips 6 are arranged in vertical rows, and in the construction illustrated three rows of such strips are mounted on the backing though obviously the numbers of rows may be varied to suit the particular purpose and the number of names or other data to be recorded. In order to removably secure the nameplates or strips in position in vertical columns I divide the backing into such colnmns by means of vertical retaining devices comprising strips 7 which are preferably secured to the backing by means of countersunk screws 8 at suitable intervals. the nameplates or strips are secured back of the vertical strips 7 and between such strips and the backing, it is. necessary to space the strips 7 from the backing, and

for this purpose I employ filling strips 9 1O *TL0' which mav be struck up out of the metal itself, and the vertical strips 7 are formed along their respective edges at suitable intervals with notches ll 12 of suitable size to receive the bosses 10. The notches 12 at one edge of each column are relatively shallow while the notches 11 at the other edge of the column are relatively deep. The length of the nameplates or strips is greater than the distance between the adjacent edges of adjacent vertical strips 7 so that when inserted in place they are retained by strips 7 and in order to insert a strip in place it must be first arranged with its boss in registry with the proper deeper notch 11 and pushed under the corresponding strip 7 (in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3) until the boss 10 bottoms in said notch, and then the opposite end of the strip or nameplate will clear the edge of the adjacent vertical strip 7 and may be inserted thereunder. The strip or nameplate is then moved in the opposite direction so that the boss 10 thereon bottoms in the proper shallow notch 12. The length of the nameplate, however, .is such that this movement does not free its opposite end from the strip 7 or the boss 10 from the notch 11, and therefore as long as'longitudinal movement of the strip or nameplate is prevented it is securely held in position. It will be understood that the spacing of the notches and the width of the nameplates are such that when each pair of notches is occupied by a nameplate the plates are in contact at their adjacent edges and form a practically continuous surface.

Tn order to lock the plates against longitudinal movement and also to provide an attractive finish for the lockin means I provide each locking strip 7 with a coverplate 13 which, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2, is sli htly wider than strip 7 and the opposite edges 14 of which are bent downward a distance which is substantially equal to the thickness of the strips 7 and the height of the bosses 10l0". Strips 13 are applied to strips 11 by means of screws 15, the heads of which may be countersunk in strips 13 or given an ornamental shape to further improve the appearance of the construction. After all the nameplates have been inserted and moved to bring the bosses at the proper ends thereof into the shallow notches 12 the coverplates 13 are put on and flanges 1 1- thereon engage the bosses and thus hold the nameplates against longitudinal movement. Thus the plates are firmly held in position until it is desired to remove them. This is accomplished by removing the screws 15 and the coverplates 13. Any nameplate which it is desired to remove or to shift can then be shifted (to the left as seen in Fig. 3) to release one end of the plate and the other end may then readily be withdrawn. The plates are preferably of sufficient thickness to insure their maintaining their fiat condition when in position in the tablet or directory so that the surface of the entire column is substantially continuous.

Obviously the vertical edges of the tablet or directory may be provided with strips 7 having notches on one side only, to wit, the side extending toward the adjacent vertical column of plates.

My invention provides a tablet or directory which may be made as permanent as desired and which will preserve its ornamental appearance and which at the same time may be readily changed by the insertion, removal or interchange of the individual nameplates.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a backing, a series of vertical locking strips secured to and spaced from the backing, said locking strips having registering notches in their adjacent edges, a vertical series of nameplates the respective ends of which extend under adjacent locking strips, said plates provided with bosses on their ends extending into notches on the corresponding strips, and coverplates adapted to engage said bosses and secure the nameplates against longitudinal movement.

2. In a device of the class described, a backing, a series of vertical strips secured to and spaced from the backing, said strips having registering notches in the edges thereof, the notches on the edge of one strip being substantially deeper than the notches on the adjacent edge of the next strip, a ver tical series of horizontal nameplates each having bosses at its opposite ends, said plates bein of greater length than the distance between the adjacent edges of the locking strips with which they cooperate, and coverplates for the locking strips having rearwardly extending flanges engaging the corresponding bosses on the nameplates or strips.

JOSEPH SCHEITLER. 

